I know they can but how much quality oif live do they have?
I encounter people with half a brain just about every day. They seem quite happy.
Seems like plenty of people I deal with do.
For a real answer you need to define half. left or right? 50% gray matter? In some cases lot of the brain matter can be removed without significant loss. In other cases a tiny amount will result in death on vegetative status.
In fact, many enjoy successful political careers, or find gainful employment as lawyers for the RIAA/MPAA.
Okay, sorry - couldn’t resist. In all seriousness, yah, people can live with half a brain. Very severe epilepsy patients sometimes undergo a hemispherectomy, in which the corpus collosum (the connection between left and right hemispheres) is severed. The effectively isolates half the brain, which then may or may not be removed.
As for quality of life - eh, it varies. Take a look at the wikipedia article (Hemispherectomy - Wikipedia) - there’s a link to a New Yorker article about a woman who was able to attend college years after the operation.
With luck, a certain doper who enjoys slithering on the hull will be by shortly to bring some actual knowledge to the table.
Have you met my friend Ben?
Seriously though, yes it’s possible. Some are quite normal.
Let’s up the ante, what about a QUARTER of a brain 
As long as we’re dreaming, why not genetically splice brain cells with liver cells, so when some of the brain is missing it could regenerate itself.
Genetically splice what? They have the same DNA. Differential morphology is a result of differential expression of that DNA.
I always thought this operation only severed the matter connecting the two halves of the brain, without actually throwing any of it out. In my Psychology class last year we watched videos of a man who had this operation done for epilepsy who seemed to function perfectly normally in everyday life, but specific tests showed the effects of the operation.
For example, if only half of his brain was shown a picture (by covering one of his eyes; the left eye is connected to the right brain and vice versa), and he was told to draw it with the hand connected to the other side of his brain, he was unable to do it.
I learned about this a while ago so I probably messed up in describing it but I’m sure another doper will come along to explain it better. But I’m pretty sure that this operation does not actually remove half of the patient’s brain. It only inhibits the brain’s ability to trade information across sides.
I saw a photo of a guy with literally half a head. He could speak, smile, do math, etc…
Seemed healthy and happy to me.
Hell, there’s a rare condition where most of the brain, with the exception of the outer cortical layer, is basically fluid, and the affected person functions normally.
I’m not an expert, but I’ve read that very young children can adapt just fine if half their brain is removed. There’s a rare inherited disorder that causes the brain to outgrow the skull; left alone this causes the brain to crush itself against the skull. The treatment ( assuming they haven’t come up with something else since I read about this ) is to remove half the brain, leaving enough room for the rest. The resulting “half brain” rewires itself to take over the functions of both halves. It’s unlikely this would work out so well for anyone who wasn’t a very young child.
There are rare cases of people with quite severe brain damage or malformations living very normal lives.
Girl with half a brain going to college:
http://www.nbc10.com/health/4563166/detail.html
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1101/segments/1101-6.htm
The really bizarre cases though are the ones where the person has no brain. Ok, technically, these folks do have a brain, but instead of being folded up into the typical brain shape that we all know and love, their brain is just a thin layer on the inside of their skull. Most of the space inside the skull where the brain usually is contains only fluid. The amazing thing is these people live ordinary lives and often aren’t aware of any problem at all, and the condition is only discovered during an autopsy after their death, or during their life if the person has an x-ray or MRI done of their head for some reason. The IQs of these people tend to top out at about 130, which ain’t too shabby for a person with no brain.
Some linkies:
http://www.rense.com/general63/brain.htm
Most likely. My memory probably exaggerated his loss.
I do think it appears more prominent in forward facing photos.
Hmm, this thread has reminded me of a somewhat dis concerning question I have.
Assume for the sake of my question that brain transplants are possible. What would happen if we took one brain, split it in two, and put the other half in an otherwise healthy body.
Would there now be two varients of the original brain owner? Who would we identify as the original person?
Holy cow, that’s a question and a half!
I love it.
I think you should start a new thread.
I remember seeing articles about a guy whose skull was supposedly filled mostly with fluid surrounded by a thin layer of brain tissue, but I have read more recently that his condition may have been misdiagnosed due to problems with the imaging technology used to make the diagnosis.
The answer is yes. Back when I was in my early 20’s I took this art class. The artist instructor asked that we sit in assigned seats every class meeting because although she won’t forget faces and she won’t forget names she can rarely put the two together. She then said “I have half a brain.” She wasn’t joking.
She had been living with epilepsy her whole life but it progressively worsened as she approached middle age. To save her life they removed one entire hemisphere of her brain.
She had to go through extensive therapy to learn to write again and to try to hone the skill of looking at an object and not only knowing what it was but being able to write what it was as well as say what it was. In time she relearned everything that was lost including her artisitic skills. She even won some presidential award.
Ok so this was anecdotal but it is true. My mother ended up working with her when they were creating programs for senior citizens at a retirement home.
Here is an X-ray image of a 29 year old man with only a 1 centimeter layer of cortex just inside the skull. He has severe impairment however.